Re: Wolstonbury: henge or hillfort | Forum — The Modern Antiquarian

Wolstonbury 3

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Wolstonbury

Wolstonbury: henge or hillfort

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Resonox Apr 13, 2011 16:54:32

Replying to tiompan

tiompan wrote:

Resonox wrote:

tiompan wrote:

According to one of the plans Wolstonbury has a pond within the enclosure .

Just out of curiousity...is it a natural pond or a dew pond?

Dunno , the plan is not too detailed and there is a suspicion that if it was natural it may have not been noted .

So is that an indication that the enclosure would've been built around the pond rather than the pond created later. Could raised ditch circles be an early dew pond/rainwater trap design??
Isn't it the case that lot of what are categorized as hillforts aren't defensive...or weren't originally defensive....but used as a basis for a defence by later residents...so what does that mean their original purpose was?
Surely "defensive" doesn't have to mean against warring factions...why not just defence against the elements or loss of livestock???

T

tiompan Apr 13, 2011 17:08:26

Replying to Resonox

Resonox wrote:

tiompan wrote:

Resonox wrote:

tiompan wrote:

According to one of the plans Wolstonbury has a pond within the enclosure .

Just out of curiousity...is it a natural pond or a dew pond?

Dunno , the plan is not too detailed and there is a suspicion that if it was natural it may have not been noted .

So is that an indication that the enclosure would've been built around the pond rather than the pond created later. Could raised ditch circles be an early dew pond/rainwater trap design??
Isn't it the case that lot of what are categorized as hillforts aren't defensive...or weren't originally defensive....but used as a basis for a defence by later residents...so what does that mean their original purpose was?
Surely "defensive" doesn't have to mean against warring factions...why not just defence against the elements or loss of livestock???

Yep it's apparent that the "defence " in many cases is display . In the Irish enclosures the pond was a later creation . Henges and water whatever their altitude seem to associated . Does anyone know the original purpose of any prehistoric monument ?